10 tornado facts, including one that hit with 300-mph winds
Tornadoes are some of Mother Nature’s most destructive forces - swirling massive columns of air that can be over a mile wide and pack ferocious winds of up to 300 mph.
Peak tornado season starts in the spring, so it’s important to be prepared and separate the facts from the potentially deadly myths.
Tornadoes are among the most destructive forces of nature, with the power to wipe out entire neighborhoods in minutes. The first tornado forecast was issued on March 25, 1948, a time when they were considered "not forecastable." Fast-forward more than 70 years, and people receive alerts on their phones when there is a tornado threat for their precise location.
Here are 10 facts about some of the biggest, strongest and deadliest tornadoes in history:
Tri-State Tornado from 1925 is considered the deadliest in US history
On March 18, 1925, a tornado began its path of destruction in southeastern Missouri through the south of Illinois and Indiana. It covered 219 miles in three hours, according to the National Weather Service (NWS).
It killed nearly 700 people and is considered the longest-lasting tornado on record.
Ruins of the De Soto, Illinois, public school where 33 children were killed during the 1925 Tri-State Tornado. (NOAA)
Widest recorded tornado struck Oklahoma on May 31, 2013
The biggest tornado ever recorded touched down near El Reno, Oklahoma, on May 31, 2013, reaching a width of 2.6 miles and packing winds of 302 mph. Previously, the record was held by a tornado that hit Hallam, Nebraska, in 2004, which was 2.5 miles wide.
In this May 31, 2013 file photo a tornado forms near Banner Road and Praire Circle in El Reno, Okla. The weather service says the twister's 2.6-mile width is the widest ever recorded. (AP Photo/Alonzo Adams, File)
Worst tornado outbreak on record: April 27, 2011
Amid a severe tornado outbreak across the South from April 25-28, 2011, a reported 207 tornadoes touched down on April 27 alone.
The tornadoes on April 27 swept through states including Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, Georgia and Virginia, killing 319 people and injuring 2,839 others, the NWS said, making it the fourth-worst tornado event in a single day in terms of fatalities.
Four of the more than 200 tornadoes that wreaked havoc on that date were rated as powerful EF5s on the Enhanced Fujita Scale.
Tornadoes can last from minutes to hours
A tornado's duration can be anywhere from a brief moment or two, to over an hour, depending on its strength and the atmospheric conditions fueling the storm. However, the average tornado remains on the ground for about five minutes, according to NOAA’s National Severe Storms Laboratory.
Tornadoes have touched down on every continent except Antarctica
Although tornadoes aren’t limited to any specific part of the world, there's no record thus far of tornadoes happening on Earth’s southernmost continent.
A tornado occurrence in Antarctica isn’t impossible; however, they need warm, moisture-rich air to develop, making them very unlikely to spin up over the continent.
While extremely rare, Alaska has had several tornadoes, although they have all been weak, short-lived and caused little damage.
Powerful tornadoes do occur outside of Tornado Alley
Tornado Alley is infamous for massive tornadoes, but destructive twisters can happen anywhere in the country.
On May 31, 1985, a tornado outbreak in Pennsylvania, Ohio and New York killed 89 people and injured over 1,000 others. The strongest and deadliest was an F5 that was on the ground for over an hour, starting in Portage County, Ohio, and tearing a 47-mile path eastward before lifting near Mercer, Pennsylvania.
Tornado's war-like path is obvious as the sun slowly sets in Atlantic, Pennsylvania, May 31, 1985, after twister all but leveled the small town, leaving five dead and dozens injured. About a dozen homes were flattened, and most of those remaining were severely damaged. At least 22 were killed in eight western Pennsylvania counties. (AP Photo/Meadville Tribune/Ed Maillard)
An F4 tornado also roared through central Pennsylvania, destroying countless trees across several counties and leaving a scar on the landscape that was still evident decades later.
There is a second Tornado Alley in the southern US
While most people are familiar with Tornado Alley, the wide stretch of tornado-prone areas in states including Texas and Oklahoma, a secondary tornado alley is also known for deadly tornadoes across the Southeast. Louisiana, Mississippi, Georgia, Alabama and South and North Carolina are some of the states that lie within this active tornado zone.
This area is closer to the Gulf, which provides ample fuel for tornado-producing storms in the form of moisture-rich air. Additionally, there are more trees across the Southeast than the central U.S., making it more difficult to see approaching tornadoes.
Researchers have determined the frequency of tornadoes has been increasing east of classic Tornado Alley in recent years, with tornado-producing storms becoming more common across the Gulf Coast states and Mississippi Valley.
Spring is the peak season for tornadoes
Tornado and severe thunderstorm outbreaks are most common in March, April and May, the time of year known to meteorologists as severe weather season.
An alaysis by AccuWeather found that May 25 is the peak day of tornado season, having more tornado reports than any other day of the year between 1950 and 2020.
Most tornado activity occurs in the afternoon and evening
Tornadoes can occur at any time, but they’re most likely to happen between 4 and 9 p.m., according to the National Severe Storms Laboratory.
Nighttime tornadoes are among the most dangerous, as they happen under the cover of darkness making them impossible to see as they approach. Additionally, people who are sleeping may not be aware of tornado warnings issued ahead of dangerous storms.
John Bernhardt searches for his belongings outside his stormed damaged home Thursday, May 9, 2024, in Columbia, Tenn. Severe storms tore through the central and southeast U.S., Wednesday, spawning damaging tornadoes, producing massive hail, and killing several people in Tennessee. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
The US experiences the highest number of tornadoes
The U.S. leads the world for the most tornadoes with a historical average of more than 1,200 annually. Most of these whirlwinds occur between March and June, but they can happen on any day of the year when the weather conditions are right.
The geography of the U.S. is what makes it prone to so many twisters, as cold air diving southward across the Great Plains clashing with warm, moist air from the Gulf provides many of the ingredients necessary for tornado formation.
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